[Oricon Sales] "Itsuka..." & KH Films vol.9

He performed at New York MTV Unplugged (that's when he got to meet record company heads/seniors to discuss any possibility) and I think during the 3-month stay in New York, he recorded the Ken's bar album (not that sure on that). I remember in an article after he was back to Japan, he said his root was in Japan and he appreciated J-pop more. After all, Utada who was born in NY and can speak fluent English can't quite make it with her Eng album. I am content if he can make it at the top in the Asian market.
Ken's bar album was very popular among overseas fans who don't know what he sings in Japanese. Maybe he can add 1 or 2 original Eng. song in it.

goldfinger wrote:He performed at New York MTV Unplugged (that's when he got to meet record company heads/seniors to discuss any possibility) and I think during the 3-month stay in New York, he recorded the Ken's bar album (not that sure on that). I remember in an article after he was back to Japan, he said his root was in Japan and he appreciated J-pop more. After all, Utada who was born in NY and can speak fluent English can't quite make it with her Eng album. I am content if he can make it at the top in the Asian market.

Ken's bar album was very popular among overseas fans who don't know what he sings in Japanese. Maybe he can add 1 or 2 original Eng. song in it.

ah I see that's very interesting .

I do know that he performed at MTV UNPLUGGED 5 years ago . I have the DVD of it & it's awesome & he's just modest man .

In between takes when he speak English to the audience , I can't believe his Eng dictation's not bad given that Eng's not his 1st language . He even apologised initally in that his Eng command not good .

Utada - for her case it's due to a severe lack of promotion on DefJam's part . Exodus was promoted quite a fair bit in Japan so it's due to lack of promotion for her case .

Eng songs - he did quite a few original ones & even included them as B sides singles in his LaKuEn & Missin' you ~it will break my heart~ singles but other than that zlich

If I remember correctly, Ken only has one original song 'What's Goin' On'
The side-B song in 'Missin' U' single is a song from Babyface called 'When can I see you'

As for Utada, I didn't like she had to wear heavy makeup and dress like a 'working lady' in her English MV. U'know like for female artists, they have to dress as little as possible and pose all those sexy look, just like Marah Caray or many others. Is that what it takes to break into the US market? Why I (or the US audience) want to see an Asian imitating the US style when I can enjoy the performance of the US singers directly? The westerners are more wild and open and it's more enjoyable, imo.
The only way to break into the West is to keep the attrative part of the Oriental style and make it fresh and entertaining to the Western market. Not copy the style of the West. That's my 2 cents.

goldfinger wrote:If I remember correctly, Ken only has one original song 'What's Goin' On'
The side-B song in 'Missin' U' single is a song from Babyface called 'When can I see you'

oh I didn't know that When can I see you is a Babyface cover . Is that so ?

He actually has another Eng song on his kh-remixed 1 album which's the only non remix song on the album titled One Love Wonderful World . I don't know if you have heard of that

As for Utada, I didn't like she had to wear heavy makeup and dress like a 'working lady' in her English MV. U'know like for female artists, they have to dress as little as possible and pose all those sexy look, just like Marah Caray or many others. Is that what it takes to break into the US market? Why I (or the US audience) want to see an Asian imitating the US style when I can enjoy the performance of the US singers directly? The westerners are more wild and open and it's more enjoyable, imo.

The only way to break into the West is to keep the attrative part of the Oriental style and make it fresh and entertaining to the Western market. Not copy the style of the West. That's my 2 cents.

dude , agree with you . You can definitely tell that the Japanese market is still quite conservative to a certain extent as compared to the US/UK market .

I mean for starters , you don't see Japanese press dictating so & so's sex life scandals & whatever scandals out there on a frequent regular basis unlike the type of trash you read in US/UK press .

Also I hate to see Ken sell out in a sense that he does things to fit into the crowd & in the process , he will morph into someone that I can't recongise & know .

I like him for who he's & not what he's

oh that's interesting to know with regards to When Can I See You cos all these while I thought it's an original Eng song !

I think it's awesome that FAKIN' POP is getting a US release will surely benefit his US fans there .

What's this Golden Week in question LNany ?

^ It's a national holiday in Japan. Check wikipedia for further info [LINK] xD

And Japan Box Office for the weekend is also out. "Ano Sora wo Oboeteru" is far from being a hit.

[LINK]

Oh yes I forgot 'One love wonderful world'. There is even a MV for it. But I like "What's Goin' On' more.

A US release of "Fakin' Pop", what is the target audience? Not the Japanese who lives in US/Europe, right? Must be the foreigners...but if there is no promotion on it, how would they know who Ken Hirai is?

goldfinger wrote:Oh yes I forgot 'One love wonderful world'. There is even a MV for it. But I like "What's Goin' On' more.

A US release of "Fakin' Pop", what is the target audience? Not the Japanese who lives in US/Europe, right? Must be the foreigners...but if there is no promotion on it, how would they know who Ken Hirai is?

the PV for One Love Wonderful World was totally stupid & a waste of time to watch .

My concern's how is Sony BMG going to promote FAKIN' POP in US where virtually Ken's an unknown in the other side of the world .

either that or they will release the album for the sake of releasing it .

& oh thanks for explaining what this Golden Week is about LNany

Both the single and the album is at no.19 at the Oricon weekly charts.
Wondered if during the Golden Week, the selling figures would go up a bit.
Anyway, hope Ken has a successful start of this concert tour this Friday.

goldfinger wrote:Both the single and the album is at no.19 at the Oricon weekly charts.
Wondered if during the Golden Week, the selling figures would go up a bit.
Anyway, hope Ken has a successful start of this concert tour this Friday.

yeah I saw that .

I hope he will have a great start for the tour this coming Fri !

any idea how well the ticket sales are ?

goldfinger wrote:It's difficult for an Asian singer to make it big in the US music scene no matter how great he/she is. (remember he lived in New York for 3 months in 2003, I think they really thought of giving it a try for the US market but maybe it didn't work out at the end. Luckily he had his mega hit 'Hitomi wo tojite in 2004) I don't want to see him losing his uniquness/identity in order to fit into the US market.

Yes, This is true. I am A Filipino and many Filipino artists here can sing very well in English. Some of them made attempts to have a crossover in the US music but ended up in failure. Few Asian artists like Coco Lee were able to but their staying power is not that strong ang long lasting. Latin artists have better chances of success compared to Asian artists. But if you would notice, these Latin artists bring with them their Latin identity and fused it with the American style of music. The result is something unique very appealing to the US audience.

If Ken will attempt to penetrate the US music scene, he must do the same. His nature and identity as a J Pop artist must remain. In this time of globalization, an artist like Ken has a chance in the US music. All he needs is timing, strategy, his established identity, high English proficiency and his prowess in singing.

goldfinger wrote: A US release of "Fakin' Pop", what is the target audience? Not the Japanese who lives in US/Europe, right? Must be the foreigners...but if there is no promotion on it, how would they know who Ken Hirai is?

Somehow, Ken has established himself as an Asian music Icon for a long time now. He has avid supporters accrossed Asia from Taiwan to Korea to Malaysia. USA as a country with the highest number of immigrants in the world, a slice of this rich pie of immigrants are Asians who have heard or appreciated J Pop music and Ken.
In addition, they, probably, would also target American music enthusiasts who have a taste to J Pop music. Remember, we are in the world of Cyberspace now. With the internet, one can explore a new kind of music and appreciate them. Ken's music is worth to be explored and appreciated by them. Take for instance in the case of Matthew, a new member of this forum. He is an American and a J -Pop music fan (correct me if I am mistaken)

LNany wrote:And Japan Box Office for the weekend is also out. "Ano Sora wo Oboeteru" is far from being a hit.

This movie must become a hit. That is my prayer!!!!

KimJayson wrote:

If Ken will attempt to penetrate the US music scene, he must do the same. His nature and identity as a J Pop artist must remain. In this time of globalization, an artist like Ken has a chance in the US music. All he needs is timing, strategy, his established identity, high English proficiency and his prowess in singing.

the problem's in order for Ken to break into the masses of the UK/US market , he has to do something which's to change his image & musical direction probably in a drastic manner & sell out in that sense in order to fit into the masses which I so hate to see him to do that just for the sake of trying to break into these 2 big markets .

I don't want to see Ken change for who he's & to become a by product of what he's . Fans will hate him for doing that & will deemed him a sell out .

Anyway , Asian artistes have tried to break into the US market but with little success . Coco Lee has tried & so did Utada Hikaru .

From the way I see it , it ain't so bad to be famous in Japan since it's the 2nd biggest music market with US being top .

First post updated with weekly sales (anda daily rankings) of the single and the DVD.

Itsuka Hanareru Hi ga Kite mo
WEEK 1: x->#16->#14->#16->#24->#14->#18 // Total: #19 (7,933 copies)

Ken Hirai Films vol.9
WEEK 1: x->#10->#6->#8->#10->#8->#13 // Total: #9 (3,602 copies)

Oh, and FAKIN' POP went up a few places and some thousands copies last week.
#19　- Week sales: 7,357 - Overall sales: 296,746

I just realized the release of the single gave another small boost to Utabaka last week. Ken's best album re-entered the charts at #296 selling 624 copies (for a total of 2,106,729).

LNany wrote:I just realized the release of the single gave another small boost to Utabaka last week. Ken's best album re-entered the charts at #296 selling 624 copies (for a total of 2,106,729).

oh nice to know that , thanks LNany

Well, i think we should just use this thread to post "Itsuka Hanareru Hi ga Kite mo" single sales... morever, the total sales in the other thread are slightly off i'm afraid.

From 1st post:

WEEK 2: #26->#27->#26->#20->#21->#22->#26 // Total: #19 (3,932 copies)

Total sales so far (Weeks 1+2): 11,865 copies

DVD rankings will be out by tomorrow.

BTW... any idea why "Omoi ga Kasanaru sono mae ni" entered at #18 in recochoku's "chaku-uta full" charts (full song download for mobile phones)? [LINK]

that's because I add the total tally so far for Itsuka wrongly oops

Ken Hirai Films vol.9 DVD sales from last week.

WEEK 2: #16->"Out of Top 20" // Weekly ranking: #28 (960 copies)

Total sales so far (Weeks 1+2): 4,562 copies

I wonder if the single will be able to stay within the Top 30 for the whole week... :/

^ Oh, he wasn't...

The single went down to #32 today.

Ps. Just wondering. Why is the other sales thread stickied instead of this one? This one was created aerlier and it's updated daily. Not that i care, but yeah, whatever...

LNany wrote:^ Oh, he wasn't...

The single went down to #32 today.

Ps. Just wondering. Why is the other sales thread stickied instead of this one? This one was created aerlier and it's updated daily. Not that i care, but yeah, whatever...

lol

LNany , when you create a new thread , you will see something called Post Topic As Normal , Sticky or Announcement below the Options box .

Just choose the Sticky option if you want to prevent this thread from going downhill & so do the other threads that you made

^ LOL. I didn't know we could make our own threads stickied, sorry ^_^U

BTW, the single is down to #33.

3rd week figures are out. "Itsuka..." ranked #30 and sold 3,032 copies. The total now is 14,897.

(Check the first post for more detailed info)